# What originally drew you into Pokemon?



## Aura Cobalt (Mar 19, 2009)

Completey independant of what you like now, what was the first Pokemon production you participated in?

For myself, I wached a few of the Anime episodes forever ago, but owned a pack of the cards first, so I have to answer TCG, despite the fact that I now absolutely despise the Anime and Trading Card Game.


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## Lucas₇₅₅ (Mar 19, 2009)

Pokémon Red. I got it for Christmas along with a GBC and now I love Pokémon.


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## Minish (Mar 19, 2009)

TCG for me too. I watched the anime a bit way after that, and then was allowed my first Pokemon game and my first handheld console~ only years after getting my first cards.

Pokemon cards were a huge deal at my primary schools until they were banned. :( I didn't even know there were other Pokemon things for years.


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## Ambipom (Mar 19, 2009)

I found a toy at Toys R Us when I was young. They looked cool, so I bought them, and after hearing there were 151 I decided I wanted to see them all, and gradually learned more and more until that was the only thing my parents ever heard me talk about.


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## Fredie (Mar 19, 2009)

Hmm, where is the other option?! Because my brothers got me into it really, well I suppose it was because of the games. Although, we did watch the anime too, it was a big thing in my house.


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## Thorne (Mar 19, 2009)

To be honest I never played any main Pokémon game before Pearl.

It began with that I watched an episode of the anime, and was all like "Holy smokes! Pets with superpowers?!" or something like that. I also began collecting the cards obviously, due not getting a handheld until Gameboy advance, and my first game was Rayman. I collected cards/watching anime until I was around 9-10 years old, and then people at my school began thinking it was childish, and at that time I followed the crowd to not feel left outside, so I quit watching/collecting.

Three years went by, and my sister bought a DS, which she said I could play on under the condition I got my own games for it, so I looked at another forum, where a guy name Xynrai! said that Pokémon games was good, so I bought a version of the game from China due me being a cheap bastard who didn't want to pay the 70 bucks it would have cost in Swedish money, and as I put it on the game pretty much hit me in the face with a sledgehammer of awesomeness and said "Become a nerd again, you little son of a bitch!"

Which is why I ended up here, the reason of Gardevoir being my favourite is a completely another story, including a mistaken link, pokémon hentai and pity. :/


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## Aura Cobalt (Mar 19, 2009)

Fredie said:


> Hmm, where is the other option?!


Yeah, sorry, I realized that it might need an other option after I put this thread up; I have asked in the Forum Help section if there is a way to edit polls, so if it is possible I will have an "other" option as soon as I can.


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## Bombsii (Mar 19, 2009)

Pokemon Blue was my first game on the Gameboy colour when I was six. Loved every second of it. The thing that actually drew me in though was the actual creatures, I adored them.


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## Zeph (Mar 19, 2009)

Fredie said:


> Hmm, where is the other option?! Because my brothers got me into it really, well I suppose it was because of the games. Although, we did watch the anime too, it was a big thing in my house.


The same for me... although I only have one brother.


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## spaekle (Mar 19, 2009)

The first Pokemon thing I ever had was an Ivysaur toy; for a long time the only Pokemon I knew were Ivysaur and Pikachu, but that wasn't really what got me into it.

I remember I'd buy Lunchables, and when Red and Blue first came out they were doing a Pokemon promotion. On the back of the boxes, there were little cards with the Pokemon on them that you could cut out, and they'd have tips for the game on the back. I saved all of my boxes so I could cut out all the cards when I got home. :> 

Then when I got the opportunity to buy my Red version, I became completely hooked.


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## Taliax (Mar 19, 2009)

I think it was when I was around three. They were giving out pokemon cards with the kid's meals, I believe. I watched the anime for a long time after that, but all the anime now stinks.


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## Noctowl (Mar 19, 2009)

I watched the show. ._.


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## Thanks for All the Fish (Mar 19, 2009)

I was a little, little kid. We were in Toys R' Us, and mind you, this was back when I could ACTUALLY be buckled into the shopping carts. I remember seeing the VHS's, and thinking. "What the..."*slips into cart*

A year later, I think I bought..all of season 1. X,X Later, the games, and then I stopped watching the show after..morals were introduced.

I do belive the videos I owned were sold a year of two back, or forgoten when we moved....?x3


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## Peegeray (Mar 19, 2009)

a kid bought some pokemon cards in for show and tell in year 2
more people got them
i got some
watched the show
rest is history


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## IcySapphire (Mar 19, 2009)

Fell in love with Pikachu, got Blue, and it went on from there.


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Mar 19, 2009)

I was 8 or something when I first saw the anime. The Toys R' Us I got my GBC at was sold out of Pokemon games, though, so the anime was all I had for a few months or so. Around the same time, a friend of mine gave me a few random TCG cards, but I didn't learn how to play for a while. So, yeah, the anime got me into this. The Eevee plushie in my avatar is almost as old as Pokemon itself. Back when the plushies were cool.

I remember trying to pick between Red and Blue at Electronics Boutique (back then they had those, before GameStop consumed them.). The clerk was not hip on the differences so I picked solely on box art. I don't know what drew me to Blastoise, though.


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## Flora (Mar 19, 2009)

I forget whether the anime or the games came first.

Now that I think about it the anime probably came first.


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## Aura Cobalt (Mar 20, 2009)

Ok, so now there is an Other option. My appologies to those who would have voted other before it was an option!


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## Alxprit (Mar 20, 2009)

My brother played it before me, and allowed me to have his Gold version, so I was a fan since.
I still have that infamous Gold. It's not too good a file.


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## Elliekat (Mar 20, 2009)

Well, when I was really little I watched some kids playing TCG, and a while later I saw Blue at Wal-Mart and was like, "That's what the cool card game is about!" and played it on my brother's Advance.

I loved it, and now am counting down to Platinum.


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## ultraviolet (Mar 20, 2009)

Once it was on morning cartoons instead of Sailor Moon. I was quickly a fan, especially after seeing charmander.


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## Yarnchu (Mar 20, 2009)

Me? Well, my brother did. He gave me a Charmander card when I was four. I then saw his friends Charizard card, and being the Godzilla/dinosaur fan I was, I got Red version, alongside Godzilla and a Gameboy Color, for my 5th birthday from my Great Grandmother and chose Charmander as my starter.


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## Sapphiron (Mar 20, 2009)

Well, I first got into it when it was a fad back in Generation I, then I left the fandom in Generation II, then it was somewhat popular again in my school in Generation III, perking my curiosity. R/S/E brought me back into Pokemon, so to hell or heck with those who bash Hoenn.


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## Dannichu (Mar 20, 2009)

It was pictures of the adorably cute little creatures all over the place. I voted game, though, since I played it before I saw the anime or the TCG really took off. I think. >>


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## Aenrhien (Mar 20, 2009)

Show started it, games hooked me. Still like the games better, but first season episodes are kinda like my guilty pleasure.


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## nothing to see here (Mar 20, 2009)

The games, of course.

Well, more specifically, those little walkthrough pamphlet-thingies they used to put in Nintendo Power during the year leading up to the English release of Red/Blue.  I didn't even subscribe to Nintendo Power--I would buy them at Wal-Mart just to get the little Pokémon pamphlets (and beg them off of people who did subscribe, whenever possible... I still somehow missed the last couple of them.)


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## Dark Marowak (Mar 20, 2009)

It all started back when I was 5. I got Silver with my GBA for my birthday. I was hooked. I barely put it down until I finished the game.


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## Invader Palkia (Mar 20, 2009)

I started watching the anime when I was 5, and followed it until they stopped airing it after school :(

Why did I watch the Anime? I'm pretty sure it's because it was on either right before or right after Digimon xD


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## Mercury (Mar 20, 2009)

Pokémon Yellow. I saw it when I was about 5 in a shop, and I asked if I could have it. My dad said yes. So here I am now.


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## Rai-CH (Mar 20, 2009)

Some kids brought Pokemon cards to school in kinder. I decided to play (borrowing a friend's Squirtle card) since I thought "turtles with bubbles coming out their mouth? cool!", or something along those lines. Then I saw the Tv Show, "Santa" (parents) gave me a Gameboy Colour with Pokemon Gold and then I became obbsessed.


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## S. E. (Mar 20, 2009)

Shining Eevee said:


> _I_ used to be one of those people. Until my friend coaxed me into joining Pokemon Crater (I can't believe that place shut down last year!). Then one thing led to the next, and before I knew it she was constantly phoning me to ask questions about her Pokemon games, such as 'When does *insert Pokemon here* evolve?' Of course, I've had to point her to GameFAQs several times before, but now I find myself recalling these things by memory.


So I guess I'd fall under Other, AKA a friend/relative got me into it, which is pretty much the only reason anyone votes for Other.


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## cheesecake (Mar 20, 2009)

When I was about 3, my aunt won a Pikachu doll at some fair. I absolutely loved it, so she gave it to me and before I knew it I loved Pokemon. :3


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## Alexi (Mar 20, 2009)

I saw some of the anime and that got me interested, but what kept me obsessed was when my cousins taught me to play the card game when they helped me move. We were waiting for my dad to come with a truckload of stuff (we moved from Freemont to Sacramento - about a three hour drive), so we had some time, and they were just playing. They told me how to play, and I won on my second game out of luck. XD


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## foreign contaminant (Mar 20, 2009)

my parents got me a gameboy color and pokemon blue for christmas. i had _no_ idea what pokemon was, no joke. for the longest time, i couldn't figure out how to leave the house. :x once i did manage that, though, the game was a blast and i loved every minute of it. i did loads of stupid stuff with blue; i recall saying, once i got the master ball, "mewtwo isn't worth it i want a jigglypuff :3" and wasted it. once i realized how dumb that was, i shut the game off.

i remember when gold and silver came out. i lived on an air force base in japan, and we didn't get a lot of stuff there; we had to go off-base to buy pokemon cards from japanese game shops - who smartly stocked english and japanese versions of the game - and it took a few years before military tv got the rights to air the anime. but the exchange, more or less a military wal-mart, knew there would be demand for the games and stocked them as close to their american release as they could. when we saw them, my brother and i snatched a copy and wouldn't leave until my mom got a confirmation from my dad that we could have them. we walked out lucky kids that afternoon.

after that generation, my brother grew out of pokemon. while i am not the fanatic i once was, i still found a lot to like about pearl, though i bought it on a whim thinking it would at least kill a weekend while i was sick. i might be willing to go out and buy platinum, and i'll willingly shell out the money when the next generation arrives.


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## Autumn (Mar 20, 2009)

I saw what looked like Hamtaro (hey I was eight >:T) on some kid's shirt one day at school, told my friend (that had gotten me into Hamtaro) about it and she told me "nah, it's probably Charmander."

"... what's a Charmander?"

Enter me to the Pokémon fandom. I'd rather have gotten into it when it was new, though, as this happened after R/S came out. ;~;

I ended up getting a booster pack of Pokémon cards and Pokémon Pinball for Christmas. I used Christmas money to buy Ruby and Sapphire, started to watch the anime when it came on in the mornings before school and bought the cards like a fanatic. Now I only ever get the games (stopped keeping up with the TCG as much, but I have a deck in my room and more than two shoeboxes' worth of cards in my closet). :P


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## Dragon (Mar 21, 2009)

Uh. I picked up a Game Boy (yes the original, bite me >:3) and Yellow, Super Mario 3 or something, and some other generic game at a garage sale, zomg, when I was.. like six. So I played it, blah blah blah, and yeah. Now I'm here >:3


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## Dragonclaw (Mar 21, 2009)

If my memory serves me right, me and my sister used to occasionally watch my cousin play Pokemon Blue. Then he gave it to my sister. Who gave it to me later when neither of us wanted it, but yeah.


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## Rayquaza23 (Mar 21, 2009)

Fredie said:


> Hmm, where is the other option?! Because my brothers got me into it really, well I suppose it was because of the games. Although, we did watch the anime too, it was a big thing in my house.


xD,my brother having G/S got me into it.Heck,when I was 4 I caught Ho-Oh for him!


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## Evolutionary (Mar 21, 2009)

Anime, when I was little :)

And then TCG...

Then RBY/GSC :)


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## Taliax (Mar 22, 2009)

link008 said:


> I was 8 or something when I first saw the anime. The Toys R' Us I got my GBC at was sold out of Pokemon games, though, so the anime was all I had for a few months or so. Around the same time, a friend of mine gave me a few random TCG cards, but I didn't learn how to play for a while. So, yeah, the anime got me into this. The Eevee plushie in my avatar is almost as old as Pokemon itself. Back when the plushies were cool.
> 
> I remember trying to pick between Red and Blue at Electronics Boutique (back then they had those, before GameStop consumed them.). The clerk was not hip on the differences so I picked solely on box art. I don't know what drew me to Blastoise, though.


I actually have that same eevee plushie, and a whole lot more, too. The neck fur is all matted from being stuck in a plastic bag and staticized, though.


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## PichuK (Mar 22, 2009)

I was at my caregiver's house and a kid there had a Pikachu toy and I asked him what it was. Got Yellow and here I am now.


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## Storm Earth and Fire (Mar 22, 2009)

Taliax said:


> I actually have that same eevee plushie, and a whole lot more, too. The neck fur is all matted from being stuck in a plastic bag and staticized, though.


The neck fur on mine is all matted from... normal wear, I suppose.

One corner of her mouth is starting to rub off, though I don't think it'll dissapear anytime soon.


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## Tailsy (Mar 22, 2009)

My brother got Blue for his... birthday? I think. I stole it off him and played it because I don't think he could actually read yet. I was so damn awesome. 

Then we watched the anime and had about a million cards. Which I still have! I had the Island set thingy and everything.


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## Mi10ticFan (Mar 22, 2009)

1. Well, I first saw pokemon through the anime. It was great, according to my opinion
2. Then I collected their collectibles and started to like them
3. I started to collect cards, but back then I don't really know the rules. So I played randomly
4. I played the games. Seeing how fun it was, I started to memorize and research about pokemon, their evolutions, type weaknesses and resistance
5. I started to look at pokemon websites, and started to join their forums

Wait! That's my history! :o Yes, that's it


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## Kali the Flygon (Mar 22, 2009)

One of my friends showed us his Pokemon Red game. Another friend invited me to watch the anime. I don't remember which came first.. this was well over a decade ago.

After that, though, I was hooked...


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## Notoriously Unknown (Mar 22, 2009)

I think it was all my cousens fault. She left her game boy color at our house once after having slept over and I picked it up and started playing. I couldn't read a word of text, but I loved all of the little creatures. I asked my mom what it was, bought a blue version of my own to play with mom and here I am today.


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## Munchkin (Mar 22, 2009)

I remember when I was about two or three and I was watching television. Then...a Pokémon commercial came up! Apparently the first episode would be airing in a short while, so I sat and waited - and watched! And I loved it!
Eventually, my mom's best friend bought her son, my brother and I our own Gamboy Colors for Christmas. Her son got Blue, my brother got Red, and I got Yellow, because I loved Pikachu~


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## Jolty (Mar 23, 2009)

I was at my friend's house and we switched on the TV to find the anime on
We thought it was awesome
And then our other friend got Yellow


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## Ivy Newton (Mar 23, 2009)

I think it was the TCG. Sorta. I had these extremely random happy-meal-esque Pokemon TCG cards. Either that or this little Pokemon coloring book. Though the first time I really obsessed over Pokemon was when I got Gold.


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## ero98 (Mar 23, 2009)

am I the only one here who didn't start with a first generation game? *cowers*


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## Thorne (Mar 23, 2009)

*raises hand*

The first game I got was a Pearl. ._.


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## VelvetEspeon (Mar 23, 2009)

I got into the fandom VERY late. What made me love Pokémon was Pearl. I started out with a Piplup and loved Pokémon since then.


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## Coloursfall (Mar 23, 2009)

The TCG, right after they came out. :D a kid in my 3rd grade class gave me a BITCHIN NIDORAN M card and I still have it. :>  I was hooked from then on.


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## Alxprit (Mar 23, 2009)

^No. I started with Gold.


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## Eeveelution (Mar 24, 2009)

To be honest, I don't really remember why, but one of my oldest memories is watching Pokémon as a baby. So I had to answer "other". It's like I was born loving Pokémon. :D


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## see ya (Mar 26, 2009)

Heard about it from a cousin. I guess I technically started with the anime, seeing as my first real exposure to the story was that little demo-advertising tape they sent out (which I still own, BTW. :D). I asked for the game for Christmas and got it, and promptly fell in love, a love that continues to this day as I feverishly await the day I can afford Platinum. 

I guess the attitude that got me into it was my love of animals, adventure and mysterious things. No one can deny that back with the original 150, there was an air of mystery surrounding the series, in my opinion, perfectly captured by the anime episode "Mystery at the Lighthouse" and how Mew was completely unavailable for a long time.


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## Aisling (Mar 26, 2009)

It was all the rage when I was in kindergarten. All the kids were talking about it and I asked my parents about it, and they got Red and Blue and a clear purple Gameboy Color for my birthday that year. Then I got some VHS tapes of the anime, my aunt got me a Machamp-themed deck of cards... I just never really quit after that.

And Skymin, "Mystery at the Lighthouse" is still my favorite episode. I never saw it again after the first time I watched it, but it left an impression on me. How'd that Dragonite get so huge!? I was disappointed when I got that Pokemon Handbook(I still have it, it's all bent and taped everywhere-I remember writing my name in it on my tenth birthday when I was a "legal" trainer) and found out Dragonite was only a couple feet taller than my dad.


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## Eeveelution (Mar 26, 2009)

Hmm, a lot of people seem to be affected by the "Mystery at the Lighthouse" episode. (To be honest, that's the episode I remember watching!) Anyways, I'd always considered myself the "Unofficial Youngest Pokémon Master", too. (Even after my tenth birthday. xD) I can't imagine life without Pokémon because I've loved it so long... The majority of my "wishing star wishes" were to wish that Pokémon were real. Sadly, I now know it can't happen, but I just pretend they're invisible and that I have an Eevee.


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## Meririn (Mar 27, 2009)

One of my best friends at school loved Pokemon, and she made me an origami Jigglypuff, so I guess that's the first thing I participated in. >D

Aside from that, I watched 'All Aboard The S.S. Anne' without knowing that it was Pokemon. Since I had internet back in 1997, when my friend started talking about it, the first thing I did was go on pokemon.com and read every Pokedex entry. I was hooked on that long before I saw the game or realized what the anime was. When I did find out about the Pokemon TV show, I watched the Sabrina vs. Haunter episode. I haven't looked back since.


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## see ya (Mar 27, 2009)

Eeveelution said:


> Hmm, a lot of people seem to be affected by the "Mystery at the Lighthouse" episode.


Probably because it captured what made the anime really good in the first season. It was dark, reasonably intelligent for its standards, and really took advantage of how Pokemon were mysterious creatures at heart and that there was still lots to discover about them. 

Then they milked that concept dry and started taking pokemon for granted, giving us tons and tons and TONS of filler....*grumble grumble*


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## shadow_lugia (Mar 29, 2009)

Hmm...

If I remember correctly (which I probably don't) around the time I was 6 years old, a couple of my friends (I remember that they were twins! Yay me!) had some old Pokemon cards (by "old" I don't mean they were actually old, I mean old-styled). They pitied me for not having any (even though I didn't really want any anyways :P) and gave me a Spearow. And for about 4 more years I just collected them, then decided to buy Ruby. So TCG started it all.

I think that the one named Blake offered to trade that Spearow for a Weedle. I'm glad I didn't :3

A link to the card, in case you wanted one


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## ZimD (Apr 5, 2009)

The games. My sister and brother were kinda into them back when they were huge, neither one of them still play, and they got me hooked on it from age four-ish.


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## Not Meowth (Apr 5, 2009)

The video games, which I discovered about age 6 or 7 through friends who played them. (And by "friends" I mean two guys about twice my age I hung around with  because nobody else liked me/would put up with me xD)


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## Pikachu Goddess (Apr 5, 2009)

What got me started was the anime. My brother was flipping through the channels and called my sister and I, saying "Hey guys! Come quick! A really cool show is on!" If I remember correctly, it was the first or second episode. Either way, I've been hooked since I was, like, four.

(Actually, I shouldn't say that. My liking to Pokémon has wavered over the years, but still... you get what I mean.)


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## Iveechan (Apr 20, 2009)

I feel so old  D:

I got into it as a freshman in high school, but the process was slow.  When Pokemon first came to America, Nintendo Power used to have these Pokemon booklets with every issue.  The booklets had walkthroughs and a comic based on the anime (with screenshots from the anime, no original content or anything).  I really liked reading these walkthroughs for some reason, and I was really drawn to the pocket monsters themselves.  I was a casual fan of the anime for awhile, and my first game was Yellow because it was recommended for people who liked the show.

AND THE OBSESSION HAS NOT LEFT SINCE.


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## diywid (Apr 20, 2009)

The TCG was a big thing for a while at my school, and I asked one of my Pokemon-loving mates for a card, and I got a Lotad and something else. That started it all off.


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## Slartibartfast (Apr 20, 2009)

I started when I was about six with the TCG (just trading; I have never done a battle). A little while later, my family got Pokémon Stadium for the Nintendo 64, and I didn't expand beyond that for a while. Considerably after GSC came out, I found out that Pokémon GameBoy games existed, and got Blue version. So, TCG first.


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## Butterfree (Apr 20, 2009)

Yellow. My cousins got me to play it, I asked for it for Christmas, and the rest is history.


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## kidpixkid (Apr 21, 2009)

I was playing around when there was Pokémon on TV. It was an episode with Kirlia and I just couldn't resist Kirlia.


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## surskitty (Apr 21, 2009)

I saw the Tentacool and Tentacruel episode shortly after the series started airing.  I asked for Blue and a GBC shortly afterward.

I was vaguely involved in Pokemon fandom by the time Revelation Lugia came out in Japan.  :3


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## Ninkid 97 (Apr 21, 2009)

At age 10, my friend and I started doing the TCG. We thought it was pretty cool, and I beat him every battle we waged. I thought the game would be awesome too, as Diamond and Pearl had just come out. I went and got Diamond, and loved it. I convinced my friend to go get Pokemon, and he eventually did. We were sorta opposites in how we played, though. He got Pearl and started with Turtwig, while I started with Chimchar. We began to also watch the anime and went completely POKRAZY!!!!!! He played mostly to train, I played mostly to collect. My main and rivals were Michael and Hayden (Michael is me, Hayden is my friend's name), his were Palkia and Dialga (he favored Palkia and Pearl, I favored Dialga and Diamond). It was just like the classic Pokemnon game, how you and your rival are opposites... Anyway, it was all sad when my parents divorced and I moved. I don't much like the new school, the kids, or the teachers. More stalkers, less intelligent people...

Well, for everyone's sake, I'll stop rambling now.


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## Espeonrules (Apr 21, 2009)

Anime/Video Games.

I started watching the anime when I was _real_ little, and absolutely loved it. (It was the 1st Season) I got VHS tapes from the library and watched them for hours. That was how I first heard of Pokemon and got into it.
The real obsession started was when I got my first Pokemon game, Sapphire. I played it non stop and loved that too. Then came Ruby, FR/LG...so on and so forth. My obsession grew, and soon I was a PokeManiac (Yes, like those trainers in the games). Now, not so much obsession, but still enjoy it.


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## Aethelstan (Apr 21, 2009)

I originally watched my cousin play the games, and I really don't know what got me so interested. Most people seem to "outgrow" Pokemon, but not me. When I was younger and I saw the show, I only really liked the well done more strategic battle episodes (it's still like that for me now). As for the TCG, I collected the cards for a time mostly for the artwork, not for the game itself.


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## Psyburn (Apr 27, 2009)

A cartoon that got progressively worse as the years dragged on.


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## Erif (Apr 27, 2009)

I'm not exactly sure. It might of been the cards, or it might of been the anime. I don't think it was the anime, though.


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## HANTASTIC! (May 3, 2009)

most likely the anime, but my memory may be serving me wrong. i know used to watch the show royally, but a friend of mine got me into the game when he showed me the missingno glitch. after that i begged my parents for a game boy color and pokemon blue. although i got yellow instead so i never managed to exploit missingno until i "borrowed" my best friends blue version. xD


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## Gardevoir Goddess (May 18, 2009)

FireRed


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## Zoltea (May 18, 2009)

I got to pokemon originally from the things on the backs of lunchables back when it came to America.


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## Aisling (May 18, 2009)

Zoltea said:


> I got to pokemon originally from the things on the backs of lunchables back when it came to America.


Oh my _god_ I totally remember those! I still have one of those cut out things in my room somewhere. I remember particularly cutting out a Rattata and bringing it to school and using it in our ongoing debate on how to pronounce its name. It didn't really help either case though.


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## Zoltea (May 18, 2009)

I would get in so many pronunciation debates, then I learned them from the anime, :3.


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## fnph (May 21, 2009)

I first got into Pokemon when it was absolutely huge and there was Pokemon everything everywhere. I can't remember what part of the franchise drew me in, but it was probably either the anime or the video games.


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## Spatz (May 21, 2009)

Cards/PKMN Gold, which I basically completed for my brother.

I've come a long way since.


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## Naitekiakki (May 23, 2009)

I was at my grandmothers house and my cousins decided to watch the Pokemon anime so I joined in with them. It was also the "Mystery at the Lighthouse" episode. Later I got Yellow and kept getting games from there. =B


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## President Michael Wilson (May 23, 2009)

A Charizard lunchbox


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## Claudster (May 23, 2009)

I remember a friend let me borrow his yellow when I gave it back many years later I got pearl. And that was how it began.


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## Espeon (May 23, 2009)

Our primary school went through a series of "crazes" and if you liked the current craze you were in with the majority so. Unlike the rest of the crazes that came through my old school, Pokémon was one that I continued to like, even after it had died down as a trend.


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## Doctor Jimmy (May 24, 2009)

Pokemon Red. I got it for my birthday. Been hooked ever since.


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## Blastoise Fortooate (May 24, 2009)

I remember seeing the episode in which Ash finds Bulbasaur. i can only assume that this is how it started.


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## UnderFire (May 27, 2009)

I would have to say the tcg. I frist played when I was 4 years old.


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## Jason-Kun (May 27, 2009)

It was shortly after my...10th birthday I think. My mom took me to K-Mart to pick out a gift. I saw Sapphire's boxart, bought the game, and have been a fan ever since.


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## Purplemew12 (Mar 8, 2010)

I got pokemon Emerald for my birthday one year, and didn't particularily like it. I kept starting new games, choosing Mudkips, losing against the elite four. Then one day, as I was starting a new game, I noticed something different about my Mudkip. It was female. Not trying to be sexist or anything, but we won a lot of battles and eventually beat the elite four. Then...I have been obsessed with pokemon ever since. That you Bluey...may you rest in peace in the hall of games that got deleted while i was no where nearby to prevent it ;_; Oh Well, she has been reincarnated in my most recent Emerald team and is now level 44...100 soon...as a tribute to Bluey...


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## Eonrider (Mar 11, 2010)

It all started one Christmas morning for me.  I was what, three or four, I think?  Anyway, I was unwrapping my presents, and one was a Pokemon figure.  Like the plastic ones.  It was a Squirtle.  I took Squirtle everywhere I went, I remember taking him to the beach once and putting sunblock on him.  Ah, memories...  I still have Squirtle.


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## Lucario (Mar 11, 2010)

I started when silver and gold had only recently come out, and I got silver for my birthday. Of course, I tried it out, and I was bored out of my mind. There was only one pokemon I liked. Chikorita. I was going to quit when I got to Goldenrod. I got an Eevee. I named it Eos. And I kept going. It evolved into an Espeon when I was on the way to the league. I still miss it...


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## Chaon (Mar 11, 2010)

Lucario said:


> I started when silver and gold had only recently come out, and I got silver for my birthday.


The same with me, except I loved the game and played it non-stop for 4 hours straight per day. I wasn't very good at it, but eventually I beat it, and in the process I fell in love with any pokemon resembling an animal in the dog family (i.e. Ninetales, Arcanine, and Flareon).


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## eevee_em (Mar 11, 2010)

I watched the 2nd episode of the anime when I was in preschool. Looking back, it could have easily been when the second episode premiered(I remember giving the date as 1998 around the same time), which is kinda cool.

I didn't go from just liking Pokemon to a complete Pokenerd until I was around 12, when I got LeafGrean and discovered the internet had more than just Neopets.


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## Flygon1 (Mar 12, 2010)

When I was 3, I went to a friend's Pokemon-themed birthday. We all rushed for the cake toppers, the Kanto starters, and I grabbed Charmander. From that point on my obsession gradually grew, going from my own Pokemon birthday to plushies and the anime and movies, until on my 9th birthday I got a GBA SP, R/S Pinball (which I played first), and Sapphire. I've been hooked ever since.


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## LadyJirachu (Nov 25, 2019)

The cuteness, actually xD

Its funny how I like got so into the battles later on after pretty much.

I'd talk about it more but i duno if i should or not o.o;

It seems entertaining to post around here right now though.


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## haneko (Jan 27, 2020)

My friend had Ruby growing up and let me play it a few times. I thought it was cool, but I didn't really get into it until White, when I got a copy for myself and became completely obsessed.


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## Melanie (Mar 16, 2020)

My dad is an upholsterer. In 1999, he was working at some sort of furniture place, and a Game Boy Pocket fell out of the couch he was working on. My dad asked if he could take it home to his daughter. They said yes. It happened to have Blue Version in it.

That was literally how I got into Pokémon. xD I didn't get mega into it until 2003, though, right around when R/S were coming out (didn't get a Hoenn game until Christmas 2005, though). Then, in 2004, I discovered TCoD and the other amazing fan sites that existed back then (RIP Mew's Hangout). That was what _really_ got me obsessed with Pokémon.


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## NegativeVibe (Apr 4, 2020)

Pokémon was all the rage when I was in kindergarten. It was the height of the 90s (1998-1999) and I believe a friend in my class recommended the anime to me. So I began watching it, and was hooked. The Pokémon world as seen through the anime was, and still is, one that I'd love to live in.

I didn't even start playing the video games until I was 11 or 12. I can't remember exactly why I didn't start playing before that, but I believe it's because I didn't know they existed. I wasn't allowed to game very much growing up, just a little bit on weekends, but I eventually got a GBA with Sapphire at around age 11, and quickly grew to love the games. Around 2010, towards the end of high school, was when I began getting involved in Pokémon fansites, mainly through the lenses of fanfiction and fan art. I had gotten in trouble before for "talking to weirdos on the internet" so I pretty much always posted furtively, from my phone. I eventually moved to posting on my computer in college, and that made things way easier lol.

I rarely, if ever, lose interest in things. So I've been involved in the fandom ever since.


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## LadyJirachu (Apr 12, 2020)

I find it so strange i was actually afraid of pokemon during the craze. Its like......_my most favorite thing ever now._

I guess you could say, though; *pokemon in general themes around courage for me :D* so my starting out as pretty withdrawn (and at first liking....pretty much, *only cute ones*) probably makes a good amount of sense in a strange sort of way.

That said; fighting (a more battle themed type) is also a top favorite type of mine now, *and sooooo is the more typically cute fairy type.* Its a neat little clash......hahaha. They both say something about me as a trainer (and person).

_I'd rather not think the two types clash TOO much, though......._(emotional issues 'nuff said)


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